my travels

Monday, November 21, 2005

I bought the ticket

I bought the main ticket and I was able to change the itinerary to the order that I originally wanted. So the plan is now:

30 Nov - London to Melbourne via Singapore
(this is good because now I can be in Sydney for christmas with Caroline)
31 Jan - Cairns to Auckland
(I had to pay £130 extra to fly from Cairns instead of coming back to Sydney because this puts the total mileage at 30,700 and the limit for this ticket is 29,000.)
24 Mar - Christchurch to Singapore
03 Apr - Singapore to Hanoi
18 May - Seam Reap to Hong Kong via Singapore
29 Sep - Delhi to London

This is with Virgin, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Silkair. I can't do the flight from Khatmandu to Delhi on this ticket because those airlines don't fly that route. I could have gone Khatmandu to Mumbai but I've been told that if Mumbai is the first place you arrive in India it's a bit of a shock to a westerner and it can put you off India. Instead I will book a local flight from Khatmandu to Delhi which should cost about £88.

Also I couldn't book the flight Delhi to London on 29 Nov because the booking system would recognise that as 29 Nov 2005 (when I want 2006) so I will change it nearer the time. With this ticket, I can change the dates I travel on but its' expensive if I want to change the routing. The total cost of the above including taxes and insurance was £1,645.

The other bits in the itinerary will be either via train (Beijing to Ulan Baator) or local flights (Chengdu to Lhasa).

Sunday, November 20, 2005

The Outline Plan

Wednesday
30-Nov
Fly London to Auckland

Monday
30-Jan
Fly Auckland to Sydney

Tuesday
28-Mar
Fly Sydney to Singapore

Monday
03-Apr
Fly Singapore to Hanoi

Thursday
18-May
Fly from Seam Reap to Hong Kong to get visa for China

Wednesday
24-May
From Hong Kong to Beijing by train to get visa for Mongolia

Tuesday
30-May
Train Beijing to Ulan Baator - only on a Tuesday

Thursday
15-Jun
Train Ulan Baator to Beijing - only on a Thursday

Wednesday
21-Jun
Fly Beijing to Xian or overnight train

Monday
26-Jun
Fly to Chongqing for Yangtze river cruise (Chongqing to Yichang)

Saturday
01-Jul
Bus from Yichang to Wuhan

Sunday
02-Jul
Wuhan to Shanghai by Train (China Travel)

Friday
07-Jul
Fly or train (25 hours) to Guilin

Sunday
09-Jul
Guilin to Yangshou for teaching

Monday
24-Jul
Fly Guilin to Chengdu

Thursday
27-Jul
Fly to Tibet (Lhasa)

Wednesday
30-Aug
Overland Lhasa to Khatmandu with Everest BC trek

Monday
18-Sep
Fly Khatmandu to Delhi

Wednesday
29-Nov
Delhi to London